Tag: Lone Wolf

One of the settings in my novel Yours to Keep or Throw Aside is a bookstore, McKay’s, in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. It’s where Andrew and Kasey, the two main characters, meet, and several scenes take place in its attached coffee shop.

While Asheville does have a downtown bookstore, I actually modeled McKay’s after the Books-A-Million I worked at while I was in college – not that the specific details of the store actually matter to the story, other than it has coffee, books, tables, and couches. I don’t think its baristas or employees even have names.

I stole the name from my favorite used bookstore, Edward McKay’s in Raleigh, NC. I probably spent way too much money there (is that even possible at a used bookstore?), but they had a wonderful selection of everything – lots of obscure titles that look great sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read. When I was back in the Triangle in March, I may have spent an hour or two there, browsing the shelves and buying a couple bags of books.

AND NOW THEY’RE CLOSED FOREVER!!!!!

About a week or two ago, without any warning, they announced they’d permanently closed that store (although they still have a couple locations around the state).

Good news, however, in that MY McKay’s – my fictional one in Asheville – is still open, and it’ll even have a brief cameo in the sequel to Yours to Keep or Throw Aside that I’m currently plotting out.

After her husband’s infidelities are revealed, Kasey Sanford just wants to rediscover who she is. After an abusive childhood and years as a career soldier, Andrew Adams just wants someone to tell him that he’s doing the right thing with his life. When their paths cross, Kasey and Andrew embark on a tumultuous journey that demonstrates just what they’re willing to do to save the ones they love.

After her husband’s infidelities are revealed, Kasey Sanford just wants to rediscover who she is. After an abusive childhood and years as a career soldier, Andrew Adams just wants someone to tell him that he’s doing the right thing with his life. When their paths cross, Kasey and Andrew embark on a tumultuous journey that demonstrates just what they’re willing to do to save the ones they love.

Plus, each entry in the daily contests will be carried over to a big prize at the end (I haven’t decided what that will be yet, but it’s definitely something you want to win – more details coming soon)!

After her husband’s infidelities are revealed, Kasey Sanford just wants to rediscover who she is. After an abusive childhood and years as a career soldier, Andrew Adams just wants someone to tell him that he’s doing the right thing with his life. When their paths cross, Kasey and Andrew embark on a tumultuous journey that demonstrates just what they’re willing to do to save the ones they love.

Plus, each entry in the daily contests will be carried over to a big prize at the end (I haven’t decided what that will be yet, but it’s definitely something you want to win – more details coming soon)!

After her husband’s infidelities are revealed, Kasey Sanford just wants to rediscover who she is. After an abusive childhood and years as a career soldier, Andrew Adams just wants someone to tell him that he’s doing the right thing with his life. When their paths cross, Kasey and Andrew embark on a tumultuous journey that demonstrates just what they’re willing to do to save the ones they love.

Plus, each entry in the daily contests will be carried over to a big prize at the end (I haven’t decided what that will be yet, but it’s definitely something you want to win – more details coming soon)!

This week I released a new title – Yours to Keep or Throw Aside. It’s about a housewife whose husband cheats on her, and she has to decide whether to fix her marriage or get into a relationship with a cop who has a lot of problems of his own.

What’s that? This sounds familiar?

Yes, actually, it is. We’ve retitled and re-released my 2013 debut novel, The Lone Wolf. The cover is different, but the content is still the same.

It’s on sale this week at Amazon for only $.99. Make sure you get a copy if you haven’t read it yet!

When Kasey’s marriage falls apart, she turns to Andrew, a soldier she just met, for help. But their friendship pulls up a past he’d rather avoid. Can Kasey save Andrew from himself while saving her marriage too?

In this scene, Kasey is working in her garden, but her husband David is trying to convince her to cook him breakfast.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Remember the first time you spent the night at my place? I woke up to the smell of waffles. Waffles!” David said with a laugh. “I knew you were a keeper when you made me breakfast.”

I smiled at the memory and said, “Yeah, well, no waffles today.”

“Does that mean I get something else for breakfast, because you’re just what I had in mind.” He pulled me to my feet, leaned in to kiss me, but pulled back and wrinkled his nose. “Damn, you need a shower first.”

I got home from vacation last Sunday after a week wandering through the Southeast and was hit with chaos during the work week. Everyone asks me how I can stand to work with high school kids, but really it’s those elementary kids that wear you out! I think I need another vacation back to the mountains.

My women’s fiction novel The Lone Wolf is set in Asheville, NC, near where I was traveling, so I’m pulling from it all month.

When Kasey’s marriage falls apart, she turns to Andrew, a soldier she just met, for help. But their friendship pulls up a past he’d rather avoid. Can Kasey save Andrew from himself while saving her marriage too?

In this scene, Andrew’s girlfriend, Lauren, is trying to convince him to move to Asheville with her, where she’s headed for a new job.

* * * * * * * * * *

“And who knows, maybe this’ll be a great opportunity for you too,” she asked. “Don’t you wanna see the world?”

“I’ve seen the world, and quite frankly, North Carolina doesn’t really count when I’ve been
all over Europe and the Middle East.”

“We could get a little cabin in the mountains,” she said as she came over and wrapped her arms around my neck, pressing her body close to mine. “We’d be all alone, able to do whatever we want, whenever we want. Just the birds and the bees watching.”

Smiling in spite of myself, I leaned in and kissed her. Lauren had a way of defusing our fights, of winning me over to her opinion.

I’ve spent the last week wandering around the Southeast, near where my women’s fiction novel, The Lone Wolf, is set, so it’s only appropriate that I’m also posting from it this month.

When Kasey’s marriage falls apart, she turns to Andrew, a soldier she just met, for help. But their friendship pulls up a past he’d rather avoid. Can Kasey save Andrew from himself while saving her marriage too?

Last week, Kasey reminisced with her husband, David, about their first date. This week, we get her first impressions of her new hometown, Asheville, NC.

* * * * * * * * * *

Like many metropolises around the country, Asheville had recently poured millions into restoring its downtown area. The city center now bustled with gourmet restaurants, specialty boutiques, and plenty of tourists eager to dine and shop in such beautiful surroundings. The town had made it to the top of many quality-of-life lists, leading a number of retirees to move to the area in search of opportunities to spend their pensions. As a result, Asheville was flourishing, supporting a vibrant arts scene and many independent retailers and restaurants.

I strolled along, taking in the streetscape. Tantalizing aromas wafted out from little restaurants and cafés, and I stopped to examine the menus posted at some of them, making a mental list of ones I’d like to try. Musicians decorated the street corners, ranging from Mongolian pipe players, to drummers using plastic buckets, to simple acoustic guitarists. Bright flowers overflowed from planters, giving the sidewalks an old world charm.

When Kasey’s marriage falls apart, she turns to Andrew, a soldier she just met, for help. But their friendship pulls up a past he’d rather avoid. Can Kasey save Andrew from himself while saving her marriage too?

Last week, Andrew reflected on the first time he saw Kasey. This week, she’s reminiscing with her husband, David.

* * * * * * * * * *

David chuckled and asked, “Remember our first date?”

“The waiter dropped a plate of lasagna in my lap. I was so mortified, and then you stood up and argued with the manager until he agreed to pay to have my dress dry-cleaned. Everyone was staring at us, cheering you on while I just wanted to crawl under the table and die.”

“I didn’t realize until later how embarrassed you were; I thought you’d never talk to me again.”

“But then the next day you were back in the library and you told me that we were going out for a do-over date, sans messy Italian food – how could I say no to that kind of confidence?”

Happy August! This month I’ll be posting from my debut women’s fiction novel, The Lone Wolf, which is on sale at Amazon for just $.99 this week.

When Kasey’s marriage falls apart, she turns to Andrew, a soldier she just met, for help. But their friendship pulls up a past he’d rather avoid. Can Kasey save Andrew from himself while saving her marriage too?

In this scene, Andrew is describing the first time he saw Kasey. He was at a bookstore cafe and she was looking in the window from the sidewalk.

* * * * * * * * * *

“So I saw her in front of the window, looking at a robot display they’d built.” I paused, smiling at the image of her, then continued, “And I looked at her, just kind of taking her all in. She looked down real quick, like she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t. And then she looked back at me, just as quick, as if saying, ‘Screw it, I’ll do what I want.’ I realized at that moment she was real strong. She had this inner core of steel, but she was so easy to bruise before you got there.” My voice caught in my throat. “I didn’t mean to bruise her.”